Logan's fighting stops, but war wages on

THE fighting may be over, but the struggle for harmony continues in the multicultural southeast Queensland city of Logan.

The epicentre of this week's racial tension - Douglas St in Woodridge - is no longer a battleground where two sides, armed with metal bars, fence palings and other makeshift weapons had to be separated by dozen of police.

One family has moved out, a peace deal has been brokered and crisis talks between elders and politicians are underway.

But residents know better than to let their guard down.

They fear, in fact almost expect, tensions to flare again in their culturally diverse, disadvantaged and sometimes troubled community.

The satellite city, south of Brisbane, is home to more than 200 ethnic groups and of the city's 290,000-strong population, more than a quarter were born overseas.

The city's unemployment - at 7.2 per cent - is also well above state and national averages.

During the violence of the past week or so, Logan police Superintendent Noel Powers said he'd be "a fool" if he thought there wouldn't be racial tensions in a city as diverse as his.

The latest violent flare-up began with an argument at a set of traffic lights between an Aboriginal family and a Pacific Island family.

It escalated into four days of threats, intimidation, vandalism and violence. But residents say tensions have been simmering for a long time.

Indigenous man Greg Barlow was among 11 people who took shelter in the home of an Aboriginal family on Saturday night, when it was allegedly set upon by a group of Pacific Islanders armed with whatever they could find.

Mr Barlow says tensions in the community began with the bashing death of the uncle of NRL star Johnathan Thurston, Richard Saunders, in a Woodridge Park in 2008.

Mr Saunders was bashed with a hammer and other objects in an act of retribution for an earlier run-in between some younger Samoans and others in Mr Saunders's group.

Eight Pacific Islanders were convicted over the crime.

Tensions boiled over again last month, when indigenous teenager Jackson Doolan died after being hit by a train at Loganlea station moments after a run-in with three men.

Rumours have persisted that he was chased onto the tracks by Pacific Islanders, despite police saying time and time again there's no evidence to suggest he was being pursued immediately before he died.

Like so many wars that stretch on for too long, both sides involved in this week's violent confrontations had trouble remembering what they were fighting over.

But both sides insisted they were acting in self-defence against threats from the other side.

"They started it. We're only retaliating," Tongan man Jimmy Maiski told AAP during the height of the feud.

Indigenous man Paul Butterworth countered: "We are defending ourselves. We're not going to just lay down like doormats."

Meanwhile, their innocent neighbours, who had their fence palings ripped off and brandished as weapons, locked their gates, barricaded their houses and waited tensely for an end to hostilities that have become all too familiar.

"My wife is carrying an axe around the house because she's scared," resident John Adams said matter-of-factly.

Crisis meetings have been arranged by community leaders and elders since the truce was brokered, again looking for solutions to the simmering tensions.

Logan Mayor Pam Parker will also hold a two-day peace summit with ministers and elders next month.

The proud politician says the problems are isolated and it's a great shame that the actions of a few have brought disrepute upon her "great" city.

But she knows the flare ups are symptomatic of underlying issues that must be addressed, and is determined some good must come of the ugly scenes of the past week.

"We need to be looking at a wholistic approach," she says.

"We have extremely high unemployment in Woodridge and it's been inter-generational.

"That's something we'd want to be looking at."

She goes on to list issues she believes are contributing to social discontent, including a lack of access to education and skills training, and issues around housing.

"We've got to use it as an opportunity to address issues that have been around for some 20-odd years ... through commitments at the state and federal level," Ms Parker says.

For her part, the local Labor MP Desley Scott is pushing for a dedicated meeting place for Logan's Aboriginal community, saying they feel "swamped" by other cultures.

"I just really strongly feel that we need to say to them you're very valued in our community and we need to find a place for them," Ms Scott said this week.

For some, the renewed attention on long-standing issues is long overdue.

Paul Butterworth, a friend of the Aboriginal family at the heart of the Douglas Street clashes, wonders why it takes a violent flare-up for politicians to act.

"These people had plenty of time. We're sick of people waiting for things like this to happen, people dying and stuff like that, and then they want to get up and do this and that for the people."